The Munich Climate Insurance Initiative is organizing a side event on climate insurance at the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP 12) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Nairobi, Kenya. The event will be held on Monday, November 13, 2006, from 11:15 am -12:45 pm in the African Tulip Tree Room, World Agroforestry Center, Nairobi. Emily Ojoo-Massawa, the lead Kenyan climate negotiator and champion of climate insurance mechanisms, along with other speakers from the public and private sector will speak.

The session will examine lessons and concrete next steps for climate insurance. Presentations and discussion papers will provide a point of departure for discussions on experiences using insurance-related mechanisms to manage climate change impacts, challenges and opportunities for using insurance-related mechanisms, barriers that need to be addressed if insurance options are to become more viable, and next steps to further explore and implement climate-related insurance mechanisms. The session will give a summary of key issues for policymakers in the use of insurance- related mechanisms in respect of climate change impacts, with a special focus on climate insurance in Africa. The side event will conclude by identifying challenges, opportunities, and concrete next steps for climate insurance.

For more information, please contact Koko Warner at warner@ehs.unu.edu or visit www.climate-insurance.org.